Monet Edmundson's Blog - Posts Tagged "helena"
A Most Depressing Helena
Today is the official start to Shakespeare Week on Goodreads and if you still don't know what that is, here's a link to make the rest of the blog post make sense.
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/6...
For day one I decided on a topic that is controversial, at least to me. William Shakespeare created some incredible heroines and female villains in his plays, from Rosalind to Lady Macbeth. Then he included some female characters that are just...there. This introduces the today's topic of the "Favorite Heroine." I'll say straight off the bat that Helena would fill this category for me.
I should explain this choice. After all, Helena is not a particularly brave, clever, or kind character in A Midsummer Night's Dream. By all accounts, she's the most lovesick, annoying character in the entire cast. Yet something made me admire her when I first read the play in middle school. Besides Dream being my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, Helena has two qualities unlike any I've noticed in other characters created by Shakespeare.
Helena is loyal to her aspirations and dreams in a completely innocent way. She never attempts to hurt anyone, except in a few mean-spirited remarks she throws at her friend Hermia. Honestly, Hermia was equally as lively as Helena.
There's something admirable in Helena's simple, hopeful personality that she will not give up. She never lets anyone tell her or force her to give up the life she wants. That's a trait I believe has trickled down into the personas of many young adult heroines today.
Tomorrow another Shakespeare-themed blog post will be released, this time unmasking some of the more deceitful characters in the Bard's plays.
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/6...
For day one I decided on a topic that is controversial, at least to me. William Shakespeare created some incredible heroines and female villains in his plays, from Rosalind to Lady Macbeth. Then he included some female characters that are just...there. This introduces the today's topic of the "Favorite Heroine." I'll say straight off the bat that Helena would fill this category for me.
I should explain this choice. After all, Helena is not a particularly brave, clever, or kind character in A Midsummer Night's Dream. By all accounts, she's the most lovesick, annoying character in the entire cast. Yet something made me admire her when I first read the play in middle school. Besides Dream being my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, Helena has two qualities unlike any I've noticed in other characters created by Shakespeare.
Helena is loyal to her aspirations and dreams in a completely innocent way. She never attempts to hurt anyone, except in a few mean-spirited remarks she throws at her friend Hermia. Honestly, Hermia was equally as lively as Helena.
There's something admirable in Helena's simple, hopeful personality that she will not give up. She never lets anyone tell her or force her to give up the life she wants. That's a trait I believe has trickled down into the personas of many young adult heroines today.
Tomorrow another Shakespeare-themed blog post will be released, this time unmasking some of the more deceitful characters in the Bard's plays.
Keep Calm and Blame Puck
Starting tomorrow we are halfway through Shakespeare week and I have to say, I’m thrilled with how much press the Bard is receiving. Countless teenagers are forced to read his plays and poems and later become adults who dismiss the author. Of course Shakespeare is still hailed as one of the greatest writers of all time, but I believe too many people go their whole lives without giving him another chance. I form completely different opinions from plays I read on my own time, versus how I rushed I was to read them in school.
Speaking of rereading Shakespeare’s plays, today’s post is regarding a “Favorite Play.” I confess that when I was deciding on the topics for each of the blog posts, it was hard to choose the so-called “favorite” heroine, villain, etc. However, I could choose my favorite Shakespeare play with my eyes closed while being subjected to fairy potions and turned into a donkey. (Out of all the animals Shakespeare could have chosen, why a donkey? I get that he probably wanted to make fun of Nick Bottom, I mean at that point, I think we all did, but still. I think by doing this, Puck fell to an all-time low.)
That’s right, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the play I’m referencing. Earlier I discussed the character of Helena who’s featured in Dream, but she’s not the only reason I enjoy the play. The witty interactions between the four main lovers, the magical atmosphere in the forest, the oafishness of the players, and the perplexing ending impresses me to this day.
I first read this play in middle school and it was the first Shakespeare play I ever read. The first time I read it, I was mildly amused. By the second time, I was enchanted. During that time I was mostly reading Jane Austen and her novels were my main exposure to witty dialogue in literature. I had yet to try reading young adult books, so Dream stuck with me and became the only source of teenage angst I could admire, or the closest thing to it. The forest backdrop reminded me of my favorite play of all time, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and the play’s quotes were memorable. I’ll never forget the lines said by Puck to close the play, as they challenged my perception of what I had read. Then again, that was Puck’s job, to make the reader question themselves, as he was the trickster fairy. He made Bottom, a confident individual, even question his sanity from his donkey experience. He demonstrates that even the most confident, exasperating person can made mistakes (Bottom), sometimes with a helping hand from a fairy (Puck).
Before I finish up this post for the day, I wanted to give a quick shout out. After my class read Dream, my school organized a production of the play by the Gamut Theatre Company. It may sound silly, but while watching the play, I felt utterly spellbound. I just wanted to say thank you to those actors and actresses, wherever you are now. It was a magical performance.
On Thursday, I’ll break away from the subject of plays and move onto discussing Shakespeare’s poetry.
In the meantime, here are the links for all my previous posts for Shakespeare week.
April 18th post all about heroines:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 19th post with Macbeth manipulations:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Speaking of rereading Shakespeare’s plays, today’s post is regarding a “Favorite Play.” I confess that when I was deciding on the topics for each of the blog posts, it was hard to choose the so-called “favorite” heroine, villain, etc. However, I could choose my favorite Shakespeare play with my eyes closed while being subjected to fairy potions and turned into a donkey. (Out of all the animals Shakespeare could have chosen, why a donkey? I get that he probably wanted to make fun of Nick Bottom, I mean at that point, I think we all did, but still. I think by doing this, Puck fell to an all-time low.)
That’s right, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the play I’m referencing. Earlier I discussed the character of Helena who’s featured in Dream, but she’s not the only reason I enjoy the play. The witty interactions between the four main lovers, the magical atmosphere in the forest, the oafishness of the players, and the perplexing ending impresses me to this day.
I first read this play in middle school and it was the first Shakespeare play I ever read. The first time I read it, I was mildly amused. By the second time, I was enchanted. During that time I was mostly reading Jane Austen and her novels were my main exposure to witty dialogue in literature. I had yet to try reading young adult books, so Dream stuck with me and became the only source of teenage angst I could admire, or the closest thing to it. The forest backdrop reminded me of my favorite play of all time, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and the play’s quotes were memorable. I’ll never forget the lines said by Puck to close the play, as they challenged my perception of what I had read. Then again, that was Puck’s job, to make the reader question themselves, as he was the trickster fairy. He made Bottom, a confident individual, even question his sanity from his donkey experience. He demonstrates that even the most confident, exasperating person can made mistakes (Bottom), sometimes with a helping hand from a fairy (Puck).
Before I finish up this post for the day, I wanted to give a quick shout out. After my class read Dream, my school organized a production of the play by the Gamut Theatre Company. It may sound silly, but while watching the play, I felt utterly spellbound. I just wanted to say thank you to those actors and actresses, wherever you are now. It was a magical performance.
On Thursday, I’ll break away from the subject of plays and move onto discussing Shakespeare’s poetry.
In the meantime, here are the links for all my previous posts for Shakespeare week.
April 18th post all about heroines:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 19th post with Macbeth manipulations:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
